This is the third in a series of interviews conducted by the Woodruff Library with the 2014-2015 Woodruff Library and Emory Center for Digital Scholarship (ECDS) Fellows. Funded by the Laney Graduate School School, the Woodruff Library and Emory Center for Digital Scholarship (ECDS) awards fellowships to advanced graduate students expecting to complete their dissertations by the end of the fellowship period. Fellows are placed within the Woodruff Library and ECDS to work in an area related to their subject specialization or interest, culminating in a formal presentation in the Spring.
Stephanie Rodgers, 2014-2015 Woodruff/ECDS Fellow
An Interview with Stephanie Rodgers
Woodruff: Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from? What’s your favorite book? What’s your favorite thing about Emory/Atlanta? Etc.
Stephanie R.: My name is Stephanie Rodgers, and I am a PhD candidate in the Philosophy Department here at Emory. I originally hail from Tennessee (living in Memphis for nearly two decades and Nashville for four years), but relocated to Atlanta for graduate school. I have since fallen in love with everything about this city, with the exception of its confusingly tangled roads and gargantuan insects.
Woodruff: What are you researching for your dissertation?
Stephanie R.: My dissertation is titled, “Between the Virtual and the Real: A Study of Relations,” and it investigates the nature of our digital lives, focusing on social media platforms such as Facebook. Drawing upon philosophy, psychology, sociology, and media studies, I interrogate the differences between our concrete and virtual selves, specifically with regard to identity, intersubjectivity, and community. Ultimately, I wish to determine whether the virtual world might offer us novel ways to address entrenched social problems in the concrete world.
Woodruff: What interested you about the Woodruff Library Fellowship?
Stephanie R.: While working for the center formerly known as ECIT, I became acquainted with the world of digital pedagogy and scholarship, and when it came time to find funding, I decided that a fellowship with the newly-minted ECDS would be well-suited to my interests and professional development.
Woodruff: What will you be working on this year for your Woodruff Library Fellowship?
Stephanie R.: As a digital projects fellow, I am working on an array of projects with a variety of people in the ECDS. From copyright research on historic advertisements to website development to topic modeling, I’m becoming acquainted with many different digital tools and practices. Thanks to the ECDS staff, who are unfailingly generous with their time and expertise, it is proving to be a very enriching experience, and I’m looking forward working with the rest of the library staff as well.